Nankin no Hana

The Japanese pumpkins I planted inside and outside our fence have really taken to the climate here and were in full bloom last week. That’s when our nanny told us you can eat the flowers and stems – I never knew that!
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Before eating, the small hairs on the stems (that cause contact allergies on many people) have to be scraped off. After that was done, we lightly steamed them and ate with no seasoning. I won’t go so far as to say they were delicious, but they were pleasant to eat on another level, like having the very essence of nature in your mouth. I can’t imagine eating them any other way, really.

Bovine 911

Last night, Nam, Max, and I saw something I’ve been expecting to see ever since I came to Thailand.
We had finished dinner at a restaurant just down the road and were on our way home in the Cefiro when we came upon flashing lights at a big curve. A police pickup blocked the view from the rear, but when we passed by we got a clear view of the latest road casualty: A young white cow of the type that used to frequent our yards, locally (and also commonly) known as Brahmans.
When I first started driving around here I was sure this type of accident would be commonplace, but as it turns out, people seem to make sure their animals are in at night. Sometimes cows or small herds of them get away from their keepers during the day when they are set out to graze, but I’ve never seen them on the roads after dark.
This all leads to the question of liability… It seemed that the only party injured last night was the cow, but that could very easily not have been the case… Which party is legally at fault in Thailand? I only know of one related case, personally: A coworker was driving down a country highway and hit a fighting cock trying to run across. The owner ran out from his house and demanded 3000 Baht ($90 US) in compensation. My coworker refused to pay and drove on, and insists this was both legal and the right thing to do.
I’m going to have to ask more people about this.

Where the Wild Things Are – Trailer

Right here.
(It kept crashing for me in Firefox but worked fine in Chrome. I’m using the QuickTime Alternative plugin though, so it just might be me.)
My brother was quick to send over a copy of this book soon after Max was born since (A) it was one of our favorites when we were little, (B) because it was one of the first books featured on Reading Rainbow, and (C) the protagonist is of the story is also named Max.
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Adam also sent this last year:
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Forgetting babies in cars

Over at the Washington Post: Forgetting a child in the back seat of a hot, parked car is a horrifying, inexcusable mistake. But is it a crime?
It’s kind of a moot question since it might be hard to find a worse punishment than the guilty are already going through… This was one of the hardest articles to read in recent memory. I tried to relate to the parents in the story, but it’s just hard for me to believe that people can completely forget about their own babies in their cars.